First Trimester Report Cards

Yesterday Maya and Zion brought home their report cards. Typically I don’t even look at Zion’s, I just sign the envelope indicating I received the documents and send it back. It has been hard for me to look at Zion’s report card, which screams from every section, “DOES NOT MEET GRADE LEVEL EXPECTATIONS!” Well … isn’t that why he’s in special education? But it doesn’t feel good, and I don’t need that.

I started with Maya’s, which is always good. There were one or two sub-categories in which she needs to improve, and her teacher wrote she is chatty, but that she is thoughtful enough to recognize it and is working on talking at the appropriate times.

Then I opened Zion’s report card. I had Elijah on my lap, blowing spit bubbles and drooling on my hand. These days I find myself multitasking in ways that aren’t necessarily comfortable, but that’s where I am in my life. With my right hand around Elijah’s chubby baby belly, I used my left hand to turn the multiple pages of his report card, which includes each of his IEP goals and objectives. Each goal shows a timeline showing when the goal was developed and whether Zion was making progress at certain intervals. The objectives used the same intervals and provided narrative indicating the progress – or lack of – made during that time period. It is a long document but allows me to see how, over time, Zion is really doing toward meeting his IEP goals.

The results are quite good. Zion is now reading at a second grade level and doing math at a third grade level. He’s requiring less one-on-one assistance with his teachers to complete certain tasks, but there are still areas in which he still needs that help. In every domain Zion is making progress. In fact, the past two reporting periods show Zion is making progress, but the period before that says no progress made. So he’s doing well, and I am so proud.

Nobody wants their child to be in special education. I don’t know of one parent who gets giddy over their child’s struggles, who finds joy in the fact that their child is not typically developing. It is not easy for the child, it is not easy for the parent. I do know, however, that for those of us who are traveling this road, we learn to celebrate the accomplishments of our special children, even if they are not the kind of accomplishments other children their age are making.